Prior art devices for supporting a conventional roll of paper towels are numerous. U.S. Pat. Nos. numbered 3,806,057; 4,030,676; and 2,917,249 all illustrate types of holders designed primarily for domestic use. U.S. Pat. No. 4,030,676 discloses a domestic type of holder which includes an annular rim into which the towels are seated, and which rim is supposed to facilitate the tearing off of an individual towel by providing a fulcrum point for the lower edge thereof. Nothing is mentioned about preventing rotation of the roll while the outermost towel is torn away. Further, the annular rim creates a limitation on the size of the roll of towels which can be effectively maintained on the holder. If the roll size is not compatible, the rim is not effective as an aid for tearing off towels because the towel roll will not fit within the rim. Additionally, as towels are removed and the roll diameter decreases, the holder will become cumbersome and unsteady during the removal of towels.
The present invention, however, overcomes all these disadvantages, and has the further advantage of being adaptable to horizontal or vertical use. The preferred embodiment of the improved towel holder includes a flattened base member, a support rod extending perpendicularly from the approximate center of the base, and a control knob having a flanged base and removably mounted in a bore which extends axially into the center of the support rod.
The control knob, when depressed by the operator's free hand, acts as a braking means to inhibit the rolling motion of the towel roll when towels are being torn from the roll. The control knob is comprised of an upper decorative portion; a flanged base portion with a flat bottom which has an outer diameter generally greater than the outer diameter of the tubular core of the paper towel roll; and an elongated shaft extending perpendicularly from the underside of the base portion. The shaft is designed to fit loosely within the bore in the support rod to operate as described below.